I feel vindicated. See entry from London, July 17. The President's Office of Economic Development has made the estimate that about 3% of the 40% rise in food prices world-wide is due to the production of ethanol from corn. The most outrageous statement I heard is when movie theatres in the Southwest raised the price of their super-large boxes of popcorn to $5 because of the biofuel production from corn. Folks--ethanol is not made from popcorn!
The cornfields seem to be thriving on the rain forest climate we have had this summer. Many rural roads are closed from overflowing creeks at present. We have seen seven crop-dusters at work almost daily for a couple of weeks now as it is too wet to get into the fields to spray. Enough planes to make it sound like the Blitz!
